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Grateful Dead Live at Buckeye Lake Music Center on 1988-06-25

by Grateful Dead

Publication date: 1988-06-25 ( check for other copies)

Topics: Live concert

Collection: GratefulDead

Band/Artist: Grateful Dead

Resource: DeadLists Project

Item Size: 1.3G

Feel Like A Stranger-> Franklin's Tower, Box Of Rain, Sugaree*, Memphis Blues*, West L.A. Fadeaway, Cassidy, Deal Victim Or The Crime, Blow Away, Foolish Heart-> Terrapin Station, Drums-> The Other One-> Wharf Rat-> Throwing Stones-> E: Not Fade Away, E: Knockin' On Heaven's Door

Notes

Schoeps MK2s fob; Unknown seeder

Addeddate: 2004-07-16 13:03:42

Has_mp3: 1

Identifier: gd88-06-25.schoeps-fob.unknown.8478.sbeok.shnf

Location: Hebron, OH

Numeric_id: 16442

Shndiscs: 2

Source: Schoeps MK2s fob

Type: sound

Venue: Buckeye Lake Music Center

Year: 1988

comment
Reviews (28)

Reviewer: grateful phishmon - - July 4, 2021 (edited)
Subject: Weather hot as hell, show ~

It was nice to be 21 years old, thin as a rail, and running every day. I was built for this kind of weather back then. Now, well, I might not even bother ... with the Deer Creek Phish shows this year if it's going to be that hot. Risking my health and very life isn't my idea of a good time. It was 104 when Bruce Hornsby and the Range took the stage to open. What grass remained on the lawn was brown, and there was no shade anywhere you could see the stage.
Still, it was a good time, and the first set was actually quite strong. Feel Like a Stranger is well-jammed, though, Bob seems lost at times, not even playing. No matter, Jerry, Brent, and Phil have the melodic and harmonic space well covered. Franklin's was always welcome in the first set, though this one is short and rather laid back. More like a 78 Franklin's. Box of Rain was appreciated, and so would have been actual rain, but none was coming; this was the middle of one of the worst droughts ever to hit the Eastern half of the US.
Sugaree brought Bruce to the stage, and he took a while to find himself on accordion. The song was nice but a bit laid back for my tastes. Memphis Blues came off much better overall, and Bruce shined on his solo. Next was West LA, not my favorite but well played. Cassidy jammed pretty fiercely. Jerry and Bob out of sync? Not really. Jerry did hit the G# while Bob was still playing (I think) an A with a flat 5. A verse later, they're all on the G# minor chord heading for the finish. Deal closes the set in rousing fashion.
After such a strong first set, the Dead seemed to be begging our indulgence while they tried out three new tunes in a row on us. None of them were fully formed yet. Victim especially was just weird, like, is there a melody here? Jerry was clearly not yet comfortable jamming over the chromatic changes, and the song petered out quickly. Blow Away sounded strong, like a potential show-stopper. Foolish Heart was the best of the three, an easy-to-hear tune like an early Touch of Gray but perhaps with more jamming potential. Having laid out the new songs, the Dead went with the tried and true for the rest of the show.
After the show, the cops were rousting everybody off the lawn to squeeze through the narrow gates that let people into and out of the venue. I was with two of my brothers, and one got into it with one of them saying, "You guys just want to spoil everyone's good time." He answered, "Yeah, we do. We're mean, ignorant people." Ohio cops.
Another brother and I skipped the long wait to get out and slept out in the parking lot; it was quite comfortable, a little cool, actually. The lot had green grass -- they must have watered it regularly. Good thing. My other brother's friend died a few years earlier when he went to sleep with the engine running, and the fumes ignited the grass beneath his car that had dried out during a drought.

Reviewer: Duffmusic - - March 14, 2021
Subject: Reminiscing 88

We lit out of Ct Fri nite after a good friends wedding. We arrived mid morning and found our campsite. One of my buddy's was covered in poison ivy and ...

Reviewer: Joel from Seaford, New York - - June 26, 2020
Subject: Buckeye '88

After partying for 6-7 days straight and catching the shows at Alpine, I was pretty spent for Buckeye. I remember Phil coming out and making some funny ...

Reviewer: srtg83 - - October 3, 2011
Subject: summer 1988

Left at dawn from Toronto, around a dozen of us in three cars, I was unfortunate enough to be stuck in the '78 Monte Carlo with the overheating rad, to ...

Reviewer: Albix - May 6, 2010
Subject: New Source

There is a new source here - http://www.archive.org/details/gd1988-06-25.senn421.zaleski-kolodjeski.ford.107387.flac16
I think you'll like it...

Reviewer: mrrockwizard - - September 8, 2009 (edited)
Subject: why cant you download the songs hornsby sat in on?

i was living in columbus back in 88 and the maintenance man where i worked told me "you really ought to check out the dead this weekend out at buckeye ...

Reviewer: Pulver@Noyo - - August 16, 2009
Subject: It was "OK"

I remember getting a flat on the way to this show, which doesn't say much about its' memory, or mine, or both. We were pretty beat from the melee in Minneapolis ...

Reviewer: gvtmule - - August 1, 2009
Subject: First show

It seems there have always been very few sources of this show in circulation. Never seen a board. This was apparently many people's first show, including ... mine. 15 and and on summer break. Good times. My real indoctrination would come the following spring with the excellent 4/8/89 Cinci show. I love the Stranger > Franklin's start. Always reminds me of Dead Set which I listened to a ton at the time. It was fun to hear Hornsby play accordian on Sugaree and Memphis Blues and his contributions really add. The Dead always seem to step things up a notch when they have guests. Always liked West LA and this version doesn't disappoint. Cassidy contains the only real jam of the show. It shows real potential but Bob and Jerry are just not in synch. Still one of the better moments. Deal is an energetic closer to a solid first set. The most rockin song of the night for sure and probably Jerry's best leads. They must have spent themselves on this one, because the energy level in the second set is very low. Early versions of Victim, Blow Away (listed as "Baby Who's To Say" on my first tape of this show) and "Unto a Foolish Heart" to start the second set. I liked both Victim and Blow Away immediately and still do (stellar version of Blow Away at the aforementiond 4/8/89 show). Foolish Heart grew on me. These songs were clearly still pretty embryonic. Standard setlist the rest of the way - well played albeit very mellow. Terrapin is always a treat. Pretty tight version and the highlight of the show. The drummers are all over it and succesfully build the energy level up, only to bring it back down again in "drums." Let's be honest, with a few excptions drums/space was simply a second set break at this point in the band's career. Why it was often the loudest part of the show, I can't explain. The Other One would seem like a great way to bring things back up. But Phil was apparently allergic to the bass intro at this point. Bob starts the verse before the drummers even come in. Very short, spacy, psychedelic version with all sorts of vocal/keyboard effects. Jerry seems disinterested and immediately steers things to Wharf Rat. Solid, mellow version. Never builds up much steam. The boys sound tired. Jerry just can't seem to get a fire going and Bob is actualy *louder* than him in the mix. It gets so laid back the drummers actually stop playing at one point. Bob swoops in and builds things back to the last verse. Sensing nothing's doing, Bob suddenly crashes into Throwing Stones. Brent's all over this one helping to bring the energy level up a tad with some tasty licks. Not Fade Away is a much needed energy boost to end the set and you can hear the crowd is into it. Still, very very short. Heaven's Door is an appropriate set closer and well before it would become the dreaded ubiquitous encore for me. Average show overall, maybe a touch below. 3 stars may be a bit generous, round it up from 2 1/2 as its a decent sounding aud. Nothing spectacular, but no real gaffes either. Way too quiet for my personal taste but at least Bob was mixed at an appropriate level which really only happened at a few of the shows I saw (the 3/21-22/90 Hamilton shows probably being the best examples). A decent first show with a few nice moments.

Reviewer: citizenflyer - - December 19, 2008
Subject: Subway turnstiles in a pasture?

I had friends who went to this show.... Came home with news reports of an awesome show...
have seen pics of the venue.... looks very Yasgur's Farmish... ...

Reviewer: kryztoph - - August 24, 2008
Subject: i got let in on this show

who were those girls that i shared the halftime with
and what the hell was with all that
this was the craziest show i ever been to
it was my turn to ...

Reviewer: Barry 420 - - June 25, 2008
Subject: Two Decades Later...

How could this possibly have been 20 years ago? I must have teleported to 2008. At any rate this is a great sounding tape, and I'm grateful to have access ...

Reviewer: JavaJoe37 - - May 3, 2007
Subject: A pretty good show for a hot summer day

This was a good summer for shows, both for the band and for me as a fan. I saw this show after catching 3 of the 4 shows at Alpine.
Those shows were ...

Reviewer: aaron_hoffmeyer - - December 27, 2006
Subject: Oppressively Hot, but still a Great First Show

As a kid (I was born in '62), I grew up in southeastern Indiana, and while the Dead got a respectable amount of radio play on the classic rock stations ... in Cincinnati (plus one of my friends owned American Beauty), I really didn't get much exposure to them until college. That was when I bought Terrapin Station. On 8-track. For $2 at a Columbia House warehouse sale (I spent about $200 that day). Soon thereafter, I was playing Terrapin in my college DJ radio slot.
So, six years later, and I am married, with one son and another on the way and living in Columbus, Ohio. I also had about 10 Dead tapes/albums by then. When I heard about this show, I knew I had to go. My younger brother was up for it, so we went.
That was a hot summer, and this day was particularly hot ... as others have noted, one of the hottest. My brother and I "bought" our first tie-dyes on the way in (my mother had made us some when we were kids), and after the show, ate our first falafel sandwiches. The Deadheads were really half of the show. I am sure it was at that show that I gained an incredible, deep-seated appreciation for lithe, beautiful dancing girls in summer dresses.
The afternoon heat, during Bruce Hornsby and the Range's show, almost had us passing out, but we kept getting "doused" by security folks with water bottles, and managed to survive the afternoon furnace. Glad they were there ... and ready.
As the blazing sun made its way across the sky towards the horizon, the Dead arrived in a helicopter and landed behind the stage. It was the only time I have seen a band arrive at a show in that way ...
I went on in life to get divorced, managed to see five more shows before Jerry died, made contributions to rec.music.gdead, dated a rich girl for a year who had seen the Dead 400 times (she was at this show), collected my fair share of the live shows (and the albums/CDs/cassettes) over the years, and have downloaded about 25 more shows from archive.org (including a representative portion of the 65-73 Dead).
But this show will always be a sentimental favorite. Buckeye Lake was an interesting venue (cattle corrals, crossing a highway, natural half-bowl valley, minus an eastern wall), and the heat had everyone hot, sweaty and scantily clad. You would think the heat would tap so much energy that no one would be in to this show, but that was not exactly the case. Once the Dead started playing, everyone tapped into the reserves and sang and danced for most of the next four hours.
Yes, this is not the Dead at their ultimate pinnacle, but it was a great time. The first set was fun, but the sun was so oppressive, I guess it was just a treat that they did not just mail it in.
The second set started with the relatively new songs, and while none of the three are on anyone's greatest hits list, if you listen with an openness, all three were "nice." Everything thereafter, including the Drums/Space kind of led up to what you can still hear on this recording ... a very large crowd (55,000+ as I recall) wanting their love for the music, this band, this evening ... to not fade away. It was an interesting "encore" because they left the stage and the crowd kept singing NFA until they returned. A crowd of smiles, smiles, smiles.
I saw them four more times at Buckeye Lake and once in Cleveland, but the heat of that day, the venue, the songs, the scene, the last 40 minutes or so, Brent's death within a couple of years, made it what it was ... a touching, inspiring, memorable event ...
There was a reason why they were at their peak of popularity and continuing to grow their fan base at a rapid rate in '88 ... they had their entire arsenal of songs, all that experience, and they gave performance after performance that captured the imaginations and spirits of their fans. Yes, the improvisational "magic" was not always overflowing, and this show was not overflowing with that sort of magic. After all, it was freakin' hot. But sometimes the magic was not just taking the music to new heights. Sometimes the magic was more like when you see a couple in their 70s holding hands and making goo-goo eyes at one another. Sometimes the magic is in the heart.
This show had that other kind of experiential magic, and that is very hard to capture on tape, because much of it comes from within.

Reviewer: screamingzonker - - April 23, 2006
Subject: Did I mention it was hot?

I brokedown on the side of I-80 2 hours from the show. My radiator blew and covered my arm and chest with its contents. By the time I pulled into the lot ...

Reviewer: Hilder,rebuilder - - February 1, 2006
Subject: The "FOOLSH HEART" project

------ I might sound like a silly "Jimmy Carter era" dead head, but I loved this song from the first time I heard it [?] --- I am doing my self a favour; ...

Reviewer: jboyaquar - - January 5, 2006 (edited)
Subject: Ok in Ohio

Hottest day of the year, eh?! Will that translate into an equally blistering show? BTW, where is Hebron, suburb of Cleveland?
1st Set: About three minutes ... of quite "Strange'r'" tuning... uh huh. 'it's gonna be a long long (what) afternoon' The music so far sounds eerily similiar to the night before....easily listenable, untroubling and each tune is not exactly all that different sounding than the next...unobjectionable but streamlined Dead. "Franklin's" abides by this philosophy...flows nicely and unoffensive. Despite a couple moments of crunchy build-up "Box" remains as innocuous as always. Cool accordian-boards from Brent, oops... that's the jam-scene's Brruuuuuuuce..., accenuate a nice-enough "Sugaree." This is the Dead perfect for your Labor Day weekend barbaque cookouts. That appeal continues during the decent "Memphis Blues." Possibly the tinny sound cuts down on the electrifying capivation found in other shows, but this "West LA" is just standard. Bobby is slightly too high in the mix during an otherwise active and increasingly entertaining "Cassidy." The set is terminated with a rollicking enjoyable "Deal."
2nd Set: 77 seconds of tuning and this show turns murky (as a few men yell out in approval over the second) "Victim." Is that someone booing the proceedings at 5:25? Not happy enough for ya kid? Man, I'd be up for dosin and listening to 30 minutes plus of this dank dark stuff. It fades away after 6 1/2 minutes making room for an equally long (2nd) "Blow Away." This ditty, another collaboration between the burdgeoning productive relationship between Barlow and Mydland outlines the increasingly distant marital situation between Brent and his wife. Not bad...but good time for a bathroom break...Looks like we've got ourselves a threesome folks, "Foolish" starts right up when 'Blow' ends. Like many early versions, it gets increasingly compelling as the minutes roll away. Wow, we're near some 'screamy' ladies, including one who offers a hello around 5:40. Brent provides an amazing piano roll at 6:30. "Terrapin" was rather predictable considering the last was night one at Alpine. Despite the pieces coming together during the climax at the late 7's, the first six minutes are rather underwhelming: drab and going through the motions. The outro is handled nicely and disseminates into 1000's of centipede appendages heading into "Drums." "Space" is intergalactic by mostly stressing conversations from remote instruments. Watching the drama unfold between two disparate planets that may, in a few decades, spell harm for the denizens of earth. That premonition makes the "TOO" that sneaks up us rather eerie and foreboding. If the band wasn't a different shell of what they were in the 60s and 70s they would have taken this vibe at least 15...Be it as it may, after 5 1/2 minutes we visit the oddly comforting (for the band) milieu of August West. It's very nice as the band has caught a glimpse of a more comphrehensive fuller-bodied performance...but Jerry's voice and the music never reach transcendation. "Throwing" has a keen gravitational pull and firm up-tempo sounds. "NFA" only provides 4 minutes of boogeying, but ends this show justly.
Tonight's encore is "Knockin." Concurrently, I'm chattin with a friend about a life wasted. I'm feeling a tinge of sadness hearing his story while listening to a resigned, tired yet elegaically beautiful version of "Knockin on Heaven's Door"
3 1/5 stars.

Reviewer: skuzzlebutt - - September 28, 2005 (edited)
Subject: An average show

I think this was the first time Hornsby played with the band; in any case he's on hand for some accordian during a few first set numbers. The first set ...

Reviewer: tommytomato - - September 23, 2005 (edited)
Subject: Overheated Crowd

Hottest day of the calendar year! 104 degrees...almost a state record. Bruce Hornsby & Range opened. Good Stranger>Franklins opener. Hornsby on ...

Reviewer: rrollerball - - September 3, 2005
Subject: hot

i remeber this show it was hot and dusty someone lit the field on fire with the leagal fireworks next to my motel always loved Stuck Inside of Mobile With ...

Reviewer: Jester1965 - - August 15, 2005
Subject: My only Dead Show

I saw this concert, my only greatfull dead concert I actually saw; sans the party in downtown atlanta in 89; I never saw that show, just enjoyed the atomosphere.
This ...

Reviewer: Gr8fulTed - - August 7, 2005
Subject: Couldn't keep the Heinekens cold

Drove south from Pepper Pike with Wolf in a Subaru w/o a/c...The heat put a strain on all systems, especially after the show was over and I had to go back ...

Reviewer: mustabeenthedoses - - July 2, 2005 (edited)
Subject: Hot Hot Hot

And I mean from the heat outside, man it was dry and misrable. Me and my buddy drove from Wilmington, De on Friday night because we were sitting around ...

Reviewer: hjl1450 - - April 15, 2005
Subject: Tough Show

All true, Summer, '88 brutally hot, the great drought with the Dead High pressure parked over Hebron. Drove south from Detroit with my girlfriend and waved ...

Reviewer: deadtothecore - - March 26, 2005
Subject: Worth the Heat

88 Summer tour was brutally hot. This show was a bitch to get to from Winchester VA on that Saturday morning. But it was worth the trip.
A fun first ...

Reviewer: Oregonglen - - December 31, 2004
Subject: Great Audience

This is one of my very first shows I collected, yet up til now only had the second set. Early versions of all the Built to Last stuff to start the second ...

Reviewer: borndead - - November 18, 2004 (edited)
Subject: 1st show-103 degress?

Check the wheather report it was hot.
Parking lot very large.
Vending and camping everywhere.
Epic time in the parking lot.Bruce Hornsby opens the show ...

Reviewer: thefuzz - - August 16, 2004
Subject: Bug-eyed Lake!

Man, I was at this show and it was an awesome time. Bruce Hornsby on stage in the 1st set, in '88! As for the music the boys were on. It may not be your ...

Reviewer: william-o - - July 20, 2004
Subject: First show

Not a bad way to see your first show than in a huge field in the middle of Ohio! Especially when you are from South Carolina! The band was helicoptered ...

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